Draco Malfoy and his Ravenclaw
by aalohomoraa
Summary: Love story between Draco Malfoy and Cornelia Falcon, a Ravenclaw student. She bumps in to him when he is exposed in a way she's never seen him before, and he gets furious. Soon they get placed in the same group project, and despite their protests they'll have to work out together, getting along better then expected.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: __Firstly, I'd like to say that I'm writing this mainly for my own pleasure, and therefore it might not (will not) follow the books exactly. I'm aware of this, so you don't have to point it out if you see it now and then. You should also know that English isn't my first language, so don't judge me, I would appreciate constructive criticism though._

_This fanfiction starts during "The order of the phoenix", and is about a character I made up myself. Her name is Cornelia, and she's a Ravenclaw. The main theme in this is obviously a romance with Draco Malfoy, but it will touch other subjects in her life at Hogwarts as well. But once again, this fanfiction is about the love story. So let's start._

Prologue

The hallway was empty aside from me, well, of course it was. That was kind of the reason why I chose to walk this detour to the library. I just loved it, the silence, the feeling of having the entire castle alone. Normally the hallways are crowded, but this part of Hogwarts was quite abandoned, containing no more than doors to classrooms that hadn't been used in the last decades. The only one I had ever met here throughout these years was the grey lady, and since she was a ghost, she didn't make much noise. I didn't know why, but I felt some kind of need to walk in these corridors every now and then. This was basically the time I had alone.

I'd told Cho that I would meet her in the common room when I'd picked up the books I needed in the library, and as my best friend, she knew that I wanted to go alone. I sighed; you definitely had to study hard in your fifth year. As I was walking through the echoing hallway I suddenly heard a sound, and it sent slight shivers down my back. It was I silent sobbing, but I couldn't locate where it came from until I realized where the doors on the opposite sides of the corridor where I now stood led. The door on my left belonged to a boy's bathroom which had, as well as the classrooms, not been used in a long time. Until now, apparently.

I hesitated; I couldn't just walk in, could I? After all it was a boy's bathroom, and I wasn't sure I would want someone to walk in if I was there crying. But on the other hand, this was Hogwarts, someone could be dying inside. Stranger things had happened here, definitely. I decided to check if the person inside was all right, so I sneaked in as noiseless as possible. As I rounded a little corner I saw the back of a blond head, but before I could do something more the boy had turned around and casted a spell that threw me against the wall. In what felt like less than a millisecond he had rushed up to me, and pressed his wand against my neck.

And by Merlin's beard, wasn't it Draco Malfoy who stood in front of me, with his grey eyes darkened and traces of tears on his cheeks. I honestly had to take a moment to recover from the sight of a crying Malfoy, but then I managed to say:

"Hey, calm down."

He just kept on staring at me for a while, his body so tense that he was shaking, while his stormy eyes pierced me. I tried to hide the look of surprise that certainly were painted over my face, and forced myself to meet his gaze. Behind him I saw myself in a dirty mirror, and I realized how exhausted I looked. My hair was up in a messy bun and not that kind of messy that there were plenty of tutorials for in the muggle world, where I came from, but just the _messy_ kind of messy. On top of that you could spot dark circles under my eyes, I usually didn't bother to put on makeup at Hogwarts.

"This is a boy's bathroom," he finally snarled.

"I'm fully aware," I stated.

"Then what the hell are you doing here, you idiot?"

I raised an eyebrow, trying not to get enraged.

"Well," I started, making sure that my voice was calm, "I heard someone _crying_ and I just wanted to see if the person was okay, and, I don't know, alive. So you can back off Malfoy, I won't kill you."

"Oh shut up, Ravenclaw!" So he didn't even know my name? Or did he? I was quite sure he did actually, we had most of the classes together, and it had been like that since first year. He was probably just pretending, to make himself seem more important.

"You don't have to pretend not to know my name."

"Fine, I do know your name _Falcon", _he spat, making my surname sound ridiculous, "but I prefer not to let it mud my tongue."

I reached for the wand in my pocket, I didn't want to fight, but it felt like I might have to defend myself. Unfortunately Malfoy saw it, and immediately grabbed it before he threw it to the floor, putting his foot on top of it.

"That wasn't very sneaky of you," he sneered. "And I can easily erase your memories from this, and the rest of your life, you know."

His face expression told me he was serious, but I shook my head slowly.

"You wouldn't obliviate me, do you even know the consequences…"

"Of course I do!" he snapped angrily. "And that's why I would use it. But of course you're such a Ravenclaw know-it-all, thinking that _none _could know anything besides you. So what would it feel like, everything you've learnt in your life, wasted in a second?" He grinned.

"Well, it obviously wouldn't feel like anything at all, since I wouldn't know I'd lost something," I muttered.

"I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you, you are completely in my power. Without your wand you're as helpless as a house elf," he snarled, throwing a gaze at my wand.

"It's a well-known fact that Hermione Granger punched you in the face in third year, I can do the same thing you know."

He snorted, but grabbed my blue and bronze tie in a hard grip.

"You're strangling me," I hissed desperately. Surprisingly his grip loosened a little, and I could breathe normally again.

"Listen carefully now," he whispered with his face uncomfortably close to mine, "one word about this to _anyone_ and you'll be as dead as the Bloody Baron."

"Oh, I'm not interested in telling everyone, I just wanted to… help."

He looked at me scornfully before he took a step back and pushed me carelessly towards the exit.

"I need my wand," I pointed out, and he looked down on the floor, kicking it to me. I picked it up, giving him one last look.

"Get lost, you filthy creep."

But it didn't offend me. Instead I just shook my head a little, and said softly:

"I feel sorry for you."


	2. Chapter 2 - An impossible pairing

Chapter 2 – An impossible pairing

As always when Minerva McGonagall made her entrance to the classroom everyone stopped talking and immediately returned to the desk where they were supposed to be. I was sitting next to Padma, who stopped in the middle of a sentence (she was talking about the upcoming quidditch try-outs or something like that) when McGonagall arrived.

She cleared her throat and began talking, but I had quite a hard time concentrating, because of the blond head belonging to Draco Malfoy I could see in the corner of my eye sight. He sat with Crabbe and Goyle as usually, two lines of desks in front of me. I could simply not let go of the thought of _him_ crying, and neither could I stop wondering _why_.

What made it even worse was that I couldn't discuss it with Cho or Padma, as I liked to do when something was bothering me. It wasn't because of his threat I kept quite (even though I didn't doubt he would give me a rather nasty revenge if I as much as mentioned his tears), but because I actually respected his wish. If I were in his position I would probably be pretty desperate to keep things quiet.

It had turned out that "I feel sorry for you" wasn't the right thing to say in that moment, which he demonstrated by casting some furious spells at me. I managed to avoid them by quickly leaving the bathroom and head away towards the library. It was true though, I really felt sorry for him. I had no idea why he was that sad, but being him couldn't be easy while being sad. It didn't seem like he could share his feelings with anyone, and not being able to act them out somewhere else than in an abandoned bathroom couldn't be fun.

But those were his problem, I told myself. I needed to put my energy and thoughts into other stuff than caring for someone I didn't know well at all, and on top of that was really rude to me and basically everyone else he wasn't friends with. I got pulled back to reality by McGonagall's voice calling my name.

"Miss Cornelia Falcon, are you paying attention, or are you completely lost in your own daydreams, because I find that it looks like the latter." I found myself suddenly being in the target for everyone's eyes.

"I'm paying attention, professor," I assured quickly.

"Then you might be able to answer my question, Miss Falcon," McGonagall said, raising an eyebrow.

Oh damn it, did she really ask me a question? I glanced at Padma for help, but she could obviously not do anything, considering that the entire classroom, including McGonagall was looking at us.

"Sorry professor, what question?" I had to ask, humiliating myself in front of the class. However I was lucky enough to receive only a harsh look from McGonagall, before she passed the question to someone else.

"That could've cost us points," Padma whispered, and poked me teasingly on my arm.

"Oh, don't distract me further, or we might nevertheless lose some," I answered while smiling at her, before I turned to look at McGonagall again, making sure she wouldn't think I was daydreaming again.

"So as you all have now understood, this work will be done and submitted as a group project. You will be working in pairs, which I have created." A couple of disappointed sighs were heard when she said that we couldn't pick the partner ourselves.

"The headmaster and the teachers at Hogwarts have all agreed that in these times we should be standing side by side, and thus we want more fellowship between the different houses. I can actually tell that the _first years_ are better than you on that point, which speaks for itself," McGonagall continued. "Therefore I have decided that your partner in this project will _not_ come from your house." People started to chatter, but was interrupted by the sharp voice of McGonagall.

"Protests will be penalized with points from your house," she stated, and everyone became quiet. "At Hogwarts we encourage letting your opinion be heard, _but_ complains about your partner in a project is not only unimportant, but ridiculous. Now, if you please, I will let you know whom you'll work with." She started reading from a list, everyone was quiet and probably a little nervous about whom they would have to work with. Padma was paired with Dean Thomas from Gryffindor, which I considered as a good partner. None of us knew Dean very well, but based on the few times we actually had been chatting he seemed really sweet and funny, and Padma would probably enjoy getting to know him better. While McGonagall kept on reading from her list I realized that I had no idea what the project was even about, since I wasn't listening when she explained it. I guessed I'd just have to ask Padma later.

"Miss Cornelia Falcon and Mr Draco Malfoy," I heard McGonagall say, and before it sunk in Padma turned to me and gave me a look filled with compassion.

"Merlin's beard Cornelia, I feel so sorry for you," she whispered. As for myself, I was actually excited in a weird way. After what I saw yesterday I'd become ridiculously curious about him, and perhaps – I told myself – this was an opportunity to get to know him better, and maybe make him tell me about his problems. Of course it was a silly expectation, he didn't even seem to tell his Slytherin-friends anything, even though he had known them for the past four years, so why would he tell me, a Ravenclaw who he'd been talking to like five minutes? But again, I knew something about him; I knew that he _had_ a weakness, a weakness that in some way as hard for him to cope with.

"Oh, don't, I guess it'll be okay," I said to Padma, and she rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, positive thinking… But I know that I wouldn't stand him for a minute, and you'll need to deal with him for an entire month."

"_A month?_" I said a little louder than I meant to, which resulted in a sharp look from McGonagall.

"Yes, this is a big project, we're going to hand it in after a month, didn't you listen at all?"

"No, obviously not," I said, and threw a glance at Malfoy. He didn't even pay me a look, but he whispered displeased with Crabbe and Goyle.

"All the information you might need is to be found in the library," McGonagall stated when she had finished reading the list. "As for the rest of this lesson I want you to take a seat next to your partner, and discuss your future work for a couple of minutes. Then I'll give you the rest of the lesson off, but I would recommend you to use the time to start working, and perhaps make your way to the library. This project will have a big influence on your grades, so I expect you to put much work into it. Go ahead!"

Most of the people stood up and looked around to find their partner. As for Malfoy, he didn't leave his seat, so I guessed I would have to leave mine. Dean Thomas appeared in front of or desk, saying hello to both me and Padma, so I smiled and left them alone, heading over to Malfoy.

Crabbe and Goyle were still sitting on each side of him; I didn't know who they were paired with. Neither did I know what to say, standing in front of them while Malfoy examined me from head to toes. After a while I cleared my throat and said:

"Uh, we are going to work together, right…?"

"Unfortunately," he sneered, turning to Crabbe and Goyle. "You can leave."

And they left, obviously. I just shook my head, did they have any brains at all, _anything_ that could make them think and act on their own? Probably not.

"Wow, those two are really like house elves to you," I remarked as I sat down next to him. A fresh scent made its way into my nostrils, and I frowned a little. The thought of Malfoy using perfume just felt strange. It smelled nice though. He turned to look at me, locking my gaze with his deep grey eyes.

"Let's make one thing clear," he said frostily, "in this work I will be the one who takes the decisions."

Well, really thought he was something. Such a shame I could play as hard as he did, and I was not going to accept him acting like this.

"Let's make another thing clear," I snarled slowly, not backing off, "I won't let you boss around with me, in this work or anywhere else, so you better get used to it. I bet you want good grades, and so do I, so I will trust in your ambitious Slytherin traits, and listen now: we're making this together or not at all."

He raised his eyebrows, looking rather surprised, but soon enough he had the same arrogant face as always.

"Oh, this one's got an attitude," he smirked.

"Do not refer to me as 'this one'!" I shouted furiously, which made some of the students close to us turn around. Maybe Padma was right, maybe this would be impossible. I had tricked myself to think he would be different after that crying incident, but he was the same git he'd always been, seemingly.

I saw how Padma gave me a look from across the room, and I smiled a little at her.

"All right, I'll call you by your name _Falcon_, but only to make you shut up," he said, pronouncing my surname exactly like he had done one day earlier.

"If you think you'll be able to make me shut up you're terribly wrong, _Malfoy_. Are we going to the library to research…?" I stopped, since I didn't know what we should actually research. "Uh... to research… this… thing?" He gave me a strange look.

"'This thing'? Where were you this entire lesson, in your own fantasy land, or what? I bet you're just as weird as that insane Loony Lovegood. How is she even in Ravenclaw, I thought the kids there was supposed to be smart?"

"No need to worry, we are. We are also unique and open-minded, traits one should admire. And Luna is super sweet; don't _dare_ to talk about her like that," I said angrily. "Are we going to the library or not?"

"Do you really think I would waste my time on you?"

"I'm not a fan of it either, but this has to work out," I sighed. "Draco, I'm trying to see something in you that is different. In fact I have seen it, I saw it yesterday, and I…"

"I don't know what you're imagining," he snapped furiously, "but this is who I am." Maybe it was just something I made up, but I thought I saw a glance of something else than the furious scornfulness in his eyes. Anyways it was gone in less than a moment. We were both quiet for a while, until he spoke again.

"And why are you calling me Draco? Last time I thought of it we weren't on a first name basis."

Before I could answer McGonagall told us that we were free to go, and Padma came up to me immediately. She stopped when she got aware of the tense atmosphere between me and Malfoy.

"Oh, did I interrupt something?" she asked ironically.

"No, nothing at all actually," I said, grabbing her arm and pulling her away. As we got out of the classroom I sighed.

"He was such a _git,_" I sighed. "I mean, you were totally right. I'm not sure how I'll be able to stand him to be honest."

Padma laughed.

"I knew it! Things are going quite well for me and Dean though; I think it will work out good."

"Well, I don't even know what this work is about," I admitted. She laughed again placing one of her dark strands of here behind her ear. Her hair was so long and pretty, and I constantly compared it to mine. My hair couldn't decide if it wanted to be blonde or brown, and even though it was both straight and quite long it was really damaged, the result of not going to the hairdresser for almost two years.

As we walked through the hallway towards the common room I suddenly felt something bump into my neck.

"Aouch," I exclaimed as something came flying around and stopping in front of my face. It seemed to be some kind of hexed origami bird, flapping its wings in front of me. I caught it in my right hand and unfolded it. A short message was written on the inside.

_Falcon,_

_The library at four o'clock._

_D_

_A/N: Just wanted to say that I'm sorry for this really boring chapter, but please review. Also I need a better name for this story, so if you've got ideas, please tell me._


End file.
